Palestinian detainee Hanaa Shalabi Wins Freedom ends hunger strike

Palestinian detainee Hanaa Shalabi ends hunger strike in deportation deal
30 March, 2012 – By AL ARABIYA

A Palestinian woman, Hanaa Shalabi, on hunger strike in protest at her detention without charges by Israel will be deported to the Gaza Strip under a deal ending her fast, the Palestinian prisoner affairs minister said on Thursday.

“Hanaa Shalabi agreed to end her hunger strike following an agreement with Israeli authorities under which she will be exiled to the Gaza Strip,” minister Issa Qaraqaa told AFP.

Shalabi, a 30-year-old from the West Bank, had stopped taking food after Israeli troops seized her in the occupied West Bank on Feb. 16. Her fast lasted for 44 days.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, which tracks detainees in Israeli jails, said Shalabi had agreed to three years’ exile in Gaza, which is geographically separate from the West Bank and under Israeli blockade, “in return for ending her strike and being freed.”

“We accept Hanaa Shalabi’s choice, but deportation can in no way constitute a solution,” the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said in a statement.”

“She had to accept because Israel put pressure on her. But we are totally opposed to all deportation measures,” the minister added.

Shalabi’s lawyer, Jawwad Boulous, said he did not know when the deal might be implemented given her deteriorating health. She had refused food for 44 days, her representatives said, though Israel’s Prisons Service put the duration at 40 days.

Confirming the agreement, Israel’s military said Shalabi would be deported to Gaza “in the next few days” and that she had promised “to avoid any involvement in terror activity.”

Should Israel deem her to have violated that undertaking it could prosecute her upon her return to the West Bank, the statement said. …more